“When truth is buried underground it grows, it chokes, it gathers such an explosive force that on the day it bursts out, it blows up everything with it.” — Emile Zola, 1898
No, the real explosions have yet to come. But what cannot be denied is that little by little, slight seepage by slight seepage, the truth concerning the onslaught, the political persecution proficiently,
ardently, relentlessly, savagely and brutally directed against Chief James Onanefe Ibori but dressed up as anti-corruption prosecution, is emerging.
One such little seepage, an essay titled ‘The Problem With EFCC,’ appeared on June 25th, 2024, in The Cable online newspaper. The author, Dr. Michael Owoko began the essay most energetically; “In every government or institution, there is a corresponding invisible hand that remote-controls its affairs with immense influence over the decision-making process, predominantly on matters of interest. In most cases, while the head, and perhaps, the kitchen cabinet, may be aware of this imperceptible parallel, it is mostly unknown to other members of the team, who ignorantly believe that the administration’s decisions are without external interference.
The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) is a victim of this invisible hand. The head of the commission, and possibly, his inner caucus, are not oblivious of its presence and interference, but may be unknown to other members of staff. By conferring the power to appoint the chairman of the commission on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, lawmakers have unwittingly created an invisible hand for the EFCC. The invisible hand is the president, and by extension, the presidency”.
And with that, Dr. Owoko had raised the most relevant point in EFCC’s persecution against Ibori. It all began in 2005 when the anti-graft agency was under Nuhu Ribadu’s chairmanship and His Excellency, Olusegun Obasanjo was Nigeria’s President. In 2007, Ibori’s residency at the Asaba Government House ended as his two terms of four years each as Delta State Governor had been served.
Dr. Omoko wrote: “Most ex-governors, ministers and other political and business bigwigs that have been prosecuted and convicted to date are those with either weak links or fallen out of favour with the president. An example were former governors of Delta state, James Ibori, and Bayelsa state, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha (now late), whose demand for resource control irked the then president, General Olusegun Obasanjo. The former president believed that the ex-governors were source of funding for the defunct Niger Delta agitation group, the Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), and consequently activated the invisible hand which compelled the EFCC to cut them to size”.
Yes, the dictatorial Obasanjo who rated his personal opinion above the national constitution had refused to activate the 13% derivation payment to states on revenue emanating to the federation account from such states until Ibori convened a South-South summit in Asaba in 2000, 24 years ago. Also, by then the onshore and offshore dichotomy of natural gas and oil production was still being debated so Niger Delta states were being denied revenue accruing from mineral deposits in the Atlantic. In the man of that moment’s thinking, revenue from such oil deposits belonged to Nigeria all right but not to the states which make up Nigeria.
And I ask: Who was the President when Ibori and Alamieyeseigha faced such insidious persecution which highly regarded columnists such as Segun Adeniyi, Simeon Kolawole, Eugene Enahoro, Abraham Ogbodo and Chris Akor and Sahara Reporters hailed as untainted anti-corruption prosecution? Olusegun Obasanjo! Also, who was the EFCC Chairman? Nuhu Ribadu!
As all the Aso Rock watchers knew, politics also ran through it; so, it was common knowledge that Obasanjo and EFCC targeted the Governors who were pro-Atiku Abubakar – Obasanjo’s then estranged Vice-President.
Why would the President have such a control over the EFCC chairman?
Omoko’s answer: “Section 2 (3) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004 clearly states that “the chairman and members of the commission, other than ex-officio members, shall be appointed by the president”, and the appointment shall be subject to confirmation by the Senate.
By this Act, the EFCC was delivered as a bondservant from inception, lacking autonomy and courage to function effectively outside the grip and body language rhythm of its master, the president. And since the head of the commission occupies the driver’s seat, obeying all traffic regulations as beamed by the president, liberty is replaced with dependency.”
Ordinarily, a President of a nation should be trusted to exercise power responsibly; that is why he is trusted with that authoritative office in the first place. He is not expected to abuse his office while hounding the citizens who dare disagree with him. But by the time the EFCC Bill was being debated, Obasanjo had already shown his true undemocratic colours and the National Assembly was wary of passing the EFCC Bill as he wanted it. To convince the national legislators that he meant well, Aso Rock offered to fly the relevant House of Representatives Committee to South Korea to study the anti-graft agency there. The evening before the Committee members embarked on that trip, I sat with a member, Hon Chude Ofodile to discuss the pros and cons of passing the bill as Obasanjo wanted it, or to delay it further while the law makers tinker more with it. On the Committee’s return from that trip, the bill was passed – and Nigeria fell into Obasanjo and Ribadu’s control.
Why did Michael Omoko focus on Ibori and Alamieyeseigha to illustrate the factual happenings during Obasanjo’s vindictive presidency, which set Nigeria on the free fall it is reeling from now? Ibori left office 17 years ago for goodness sake. He was even jailed in Britain, too, and so stayed away from Nigeria for almost a decade. Since then, the third set of Governors is now in office, yet Ibori remains an issue – nationwide. Since then, he has not held a public office. Yet, his popularity whether in Delta state or within the Niger Delta, has ever remained on the upward swing. This is perplexing.
For an explanation, I align with Jacques Abbadie, later Dean of Killaloe, Ireland. Abbadie said in 1684, in his French Treatise on the Truth of the Christian Religion: “One can fool some men, or fool all men in some places and times, but one cannot fool all men in all places and ages.”
The following century Denis Diderot copied this almost verbatim in his entry in the Yale Book of Quotations, and it was later wrongly attributed to Lincoln; “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time”. There are no known contemporary records or accounts substantiating that Lincoln ever made the statement. The earliest known appearance is October 29, 1886 in the Milwaukee Daily Journal. It later appeared in the New York Times on August 26 and August 27, 1887. An exhaustive search of Lincoln’s writing and reported speeches has turned up nothing.
Something I have chosen to call Ibori’s revenge happened at Asaba during the May 31st 2024 funeral Mass for the late Asagba of Asaba, Prof. Chike Edozien, right inside the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, as related by Dr. Leroy C. Edozien: “The Priest was thanking the visitors, and according to the order of established protocol Ibori; the order of precedence.
“When it got to the turn of Chief James Onanefe Ibori, past Governor of Delta State, the congregation erupted spontaneously in loud applause. Further down in his presentation, the priest had cause to again mention the name of Chief Ibori, and again there was a fervid applause in a hitherto quiet church. It was like we were at a political meeting or a celebrity party, not a Catholic church. But these were not party loyalists or political acolytes, or tribesmen; they were ordinary people who had come to their king’s funeral”.
Also, Ibori was so honoured at Amassoma mid-June this year when he received a chieftaincy title, Opu Ekei of Igboin, from His Royal Majesty, King Oweipa Jones Ere III the Ebenanwei of Ogboin Kingdom title as he marked his 20th year as King. Vigorous applause greeted the Ibori name every time.
Leroy Edozien asked an important question: “How come Chief Ibori received such a fervid and spontaneous reception (in church!) while the introduction of other top dignitaries met with silence? And this occurring 17 years after he left office? And despite adverse publicity that had trailed him for some time”. He provides the answer: “As Governor, Chief Ibori worked his way into the hearts of the governed, across social strata. He was a man of the people. I recognise two domains in political leadership: ‘soft’ and ‘hard’. These two are distinct but they synergise and reinforce each other.
The ‘soft’ domain is about relationships, about hearts and minds. A good leader reaches out to all, feels the pulse of the people, builds bridges, wins hearts and minds. The ‘hard’ domain is the tangible performance of the leader, as in the building of infrastructure, creation of jobs, management of the economy and so on”. The people score Ibori highly on both the hard and soft domains of power!
Does Ibori’s non-ebbing popularity matter? The important thing to his traducers, myopic though, is that he was jailed. If being imprisoned is all that matters, wasn’t Obasanjo himself once imprisoned and later received presidential pardon? The ever resourceful Ibori made the best use of his time there; he studied for and earned university degrees there. The important thing to me is that truth is gradually emerging.
The common Nigerians are not fools and so do not revere, and keep hailing someone, as their leader, come rain or shine for no reason.
Niger Deltans know Ibori was jailed for his politics and not for stealing. Even journalists who excoriate him as a thief know they are lying; or they are plain bumbling fools and failed journalists for the London Court record bears witness that Ibori did not steal a penny from Delta state coffers.
Truth: From No 82 (page 15) of Prosecution’s statement during Ibori’s sentencing comes this): “MER Engineering built two houseboats, which were rented out to oil workers. It was Ibori who was able to influence the contracts with Chevron and Shell and the NNPC.
83: It was MER money that paid for the Ibori property in Hampstead, Westover Hill: COUNT 5: (lying on the file).
84: It was MER money that bought the house Ibori bought in Houston, Texas (USA).
85: It was MER money that paid for the deposit for the $20 million Challenger Jet airplane that Mr. Ibori was in the process of buying when his monies were restrained by the UK courts (Count 9) (STATEMENT OF OFFENCE reads: “Attempting to commit money laundering contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Attempts Act 1981”. Finish. The particulars of offence section were among the dropped charges.
Doubtlessly, all the properties were actually bought with monies that accrued from MER Engineering, Ibori’s own company on contract with certain oil majors.
183: “MER had a bank account at Barclays in Knightsbridge. The money went from the oil companies straight out of Nigeria and into MER account in Barclays”.
140: Prosecution’s conclusion: “To recap, during the eight-year period, when James Ibori was Governor of Delta State, ostensibly earning 4 thousand Pounds per annum, he amassed a property portfolio of six houses worth 6.9 million Pounds”.
Was Ibori really earning just Four Thousand Pounds yearly? Who owned MER Engineering and such other businesses? And why did the London Prosecution mention only 6.9 million Pounds? What happened to the $200 million dollars charge Obasanjo said in the Chude Jideonwo interview and his My Watch book that he or EFFCC had established against Ibori and he asked Ibori to refund some $150m. Lies have short legs. Phew!
Nigerians couldn’t ask where Obasanjo derived such powers from. Yet, they claim to love freedom and swear by the constitution.